Ear-muff



(No Model.)

' C. E. GILLESPIE.

BAR MUPF.

No. 316,029. Patented A131121, 1885.

UNITED STATES cYnUs n. GILLEsPIn, or nDWARnsvILLE, ILLINOIS..V

EAR-MUFF.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 316,029, dated April 21, 1885.

Application filed September 30, 1884.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GYRUs E. GILLnsPIE, of Edwardsville, Illinois, have made a new and useful Improvement in Ear Muffs, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure lis an elevation ofthe improvement, the inner side of the muffs being presented; Fig. 2, a side elevation of the wire used in expanding andcontracting the muffs, the wire being shown contracted as when the muffs are in use; and Fig. 3, a similar view of the wire, but expanded as when the muffs are being` attached to the ears.

The same letters of reference denote the same parts.

The improvement consists in making the muffs at the ear-opening expansible and contractible, so that in applying the muffs the opening can be enlarged to readily ad mitthe ear, and when the ear is admitted to draw around it.

The improvement also relates to the means used to expand and contract the opening.

A A', Fig. 1, represent a pair of ear-muffs having the improvement. The muffs are such as are commonly in use, saving as modified by the improvement-that is, the ear-opening a can be enlarged and diminished, as represented in the right-hand muii0 and the lefthand muff, respectively, 0f Fig. 1.

The means preferably adopted for effecting the change in the ear-opening is thewire B, which is inserted in the muft' around the earopening, and is constructed in a form similar to that of the ear-opening when contracted, but not in the form of a continuous piece of wire, the ends b b of the wire in the present case being extended and made to cross each other, as represented in the various figures of the drawings, and when the wire is applied to the muff to project from the hem a', which surrounds the ear-opening afthat is, the heni is suitably constructed at a2 to permit of the crossed ends b b extending outward therefrom, as seen in the muff A, Fig. l, which position the ends b b assume when at rest.

(No model.)

In applying the muffs the extremities b b of the ends b b are pushed toward each other' until the parts assume the position shown in the muft' A', Fig. l. The ear-opening a now readily admits the ear. The Wire is of suitable niaterial-such as steel or brass--to enable it to be expanded and contracted, as represented in Figs. 3 and 2, respectively, and after the wire has been expanded into the form shown in Fig. 3 it will, when released, contract into the form shown in Fig. 2. Therefore after the muff, with its opening in its expanded forui,l1as been adjusted upon the ear, the ends b b are released, whereupon the opening a is contracted around the neck of the ear.

The wire, as Well as the ear-opening, may be varied somewhat from the precise form exhibited in the drawings without departing from the principle of the improvement. The wire also may be connected in various ways With the nluff without materially modifying the construction. The form shown, however, is believed the most desirable, as well as the Inode of combining the Wire and mui.

rI`he'wire B in effect is a frame Whose form y can be changed to cause the ear-opening to assume a different shape in applying the muff to the ear.

I claiml. An eamnuff having a Wire, B, Whose ends b b project and cross each other, and are adapted to be pushed toward each other, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. An earmuff whose ear-opening is surrounded by an elastic, expansible, and contractible frame in the form of an elastic wire, which extends entirely around the earppening, and whose ends cross each other, substantially as and for the purpose described.

8. The combination of the muff A and the wire B, the ends b I) of the wire projecting from the hem a around the ear-opening, as and for the purpose described.

CYRUS E. GILLESPIE.

v Witnesses:

E. W. FIEGENBAUM, M. O. BARNsBAcK. 

